Internal valves are used in a variety of commercial and industrial applications to control fluid flow between a fluid storage container and another container, hose, pipeline, etc. Typically, internal valves are provided with an equalization member to equalize fluid pressure across the valve prior to fully opening the valve. The rate at which the fluid pressure equalizes across the valve is associated with the size of the valve and the fluid flow rate through the equalization member.
To equalize the pressure across known internal valves, these valves are typically provided with a stem having a cut-away portion or grove that varies the fluid flow rate through the equalization member depending on the position of the cut-away portion or groove relative to an aperture that fluidly couples the valve to the container, hose, pipeline, etc. Specifically, if the cut-away portion or groove is adjacent the aperture, the size of the fluid flow path is relatively large and, in contrast, if the cut-away portion or groove is at a distance from the aperture, the size of the fluid flow path is relatively small.